Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Are you testing regularly?

127 replies

Marianne1234 · 10/12/2021 16:04

My understanding is that we are meant to be testing twice weekly with lateral flows. We haven’t been doing this. In real life I don’t know anyone who is doing this.

I tested my youngest a few weeks ago when she had a temperature and it was positive. But I only tested her because she had symptoms. We tested in the couple of weeks following that (following negative PCRs) and we never did get it (somehow!) but now we are not testing any more.

I just don’t really want to go looking for it, in all honesty. From where I am it looks like a lot of people are doing the same.

OP posts:
MLMshouldbeillegal · 10/12/2021 18:16

Nope.

Nicola Sturgeon thinks we should be taking a lateral flow before we go to the supermarket. Hmm I will take a PCR test if I have symptoms, maybe. No interest in doing multiple LFTs every week. All that waste. All that expense. All that plastic.

No chance.

MLMshouldbeillegal · 10/12/2021 18:19

Oh and stop it with the "selfish fuckers" comments. We've all had our vaccines in this house to protect others, not ourselves particularly.

Before March 2020 there was none of this "selfish fuckers not testing themselves every 5 minutes for flu/chickenpox/norovirus/ebola" so just giver over with that nonsense.

IncessantNameChanger · 10/12/2021 18:21

Unless one of us has any signs of any illness ( so anything from head ache to sore throat) or we have made aware of a close contact, we arent testing.

Had a close contact two weeks ago so I tested three times on the day I was told, day 3 and day 5. Will do the same for ds who's best friend has just a positive PCR.

I will test us before seeing my mum, but no, I cant keep testing for the rest of time. This is two years in now and you cant help but get complacent after years of covid

guineapigs · 10/12/2021 18:22

I am sahm so I only test if there is a need. I actually stopped testing after I kept getting positive lfts and negative pcr. I didn't have any symptoms.

Ds year 7 tests twice a week.

Marianne1234 · 10/12/2021 18:22

I also think for some people, and for a myriad of reasons, asking people to put their lives on hold for ten days is a massive ask. That’s why people I know are not testing. If they have symptoms and have a positive test then it’s fair enough but two years in I think people have had enough of the inconvenience of it and so don’t want to go looking for it

OP posts:
HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 10/12/2021 18:26

I test every other day, it's easy, quick and pain free so I don't see it as any kind of imposition and it will hopefully stop me spreading it to anyone else.

olivo · 10/12/2021 18:28

I and my dcs test daily. So many people I know have picked it up on lfts when asymptomatic or well before symptoms began.

User378436 · 10/12/2021 18:30

No never tested

lliitttlepiinkhouse · 10/12/2021 18:34

Nope.

Had enough of this absolute shit show.

I'm double vaccinated and have booked my booster.

All of my household have had covid and are vaccinated too so must have some immunity.

I refuse to shove things down my throat/up my nose for no good reason week in week out. If I have genuine symptoms I will take a PCR and follow guidelines.

My life has been impacted by covid and countless isolations and disrupted plans through not getting results back in a reasonable timeframe. I've had a relative pass away completely unexpectedly on a hospital floor by them self after seeing no family for weeks due to no visiting. And no, they didn't have covid.

I've absolutely had enough.

And everyone can give over with this 'selfish' crap. It's been nearly two years of this, patience is wearing very thin especially with this shameful government.

We all need to be responsible for our own bodies and our own health, it can't be the responsibility of everyone else to always protect other people.

Weaverspin · 10/12/2021 18:35

Yes, twice a week. My job takes me out and about into other people’s homes, and then funeral gatherings where people have - sadly - sometimes died of Covid. So I test to try and protect others I might come into contact with. I’ve had both jabs and a booster.

BogRollBOGOF · 10/12/2021 18:52

I've only tested when I had a textbook sniffly cold and swerved anything indoors for 10 days. Most of my social life is outdoor sport and the few indoor commitments are easily paused.
I'm vaccinated, and therein my responsibility to society is complete.
No high risk contacts with vulnerable people and I've spent enough time having mine and my family's life taken over and disrupted.
Clear symptoms and higher risk commitments and I would go for a PCR.

Clarkey86 · 10/12/2021 18:56

Yep - I’m a teacher. I’ve currently got Covid and wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for the the lateral flow (I’ve now lost sense of taste but I hadn’t 7 days ago!)

stayingaliveisawayoflife · 10/12/2021 18:59

I test three times a week but then I am a CEV teacher. I also PCR test every two months as part of a research group.

secretllama · 10/12/2021 19:01

You don't care about other people you mean.
There are vulnerable people in society that either cannot have the vaccinations or for whom they aren't as effective and yet have NO choice about going to work, school, medical appointments..

@NovemberNovemberDarkNights I'm assuming you tested for flu, rsv, other coronaviruses twice weekly every weekly pre March 2020? And still do now, alongside your twice weekly covid test? People were vulnerable to those things previously. Did you not care then?

TheVampiresWife · 10/12/2021 19:09

I had never done a test until late July, when I 'became' CEV due to new immunosuppressant drugs. I was told to be vigilant so started testing twice a week. A few weeks later, lo and behold, I tested positive. I was completely asymptomatic and would never have known if I hadn't tested. DH the same.

You're not supposed to test for 90 days once your isolation ends so I haven't, but I've started testing again this week. I'm triple jabbed and have had covid twice so hopefully not even Omicron is going to get through that!

Toadsinholes · 10/12/2021 19:11

The chance of having asymptomatic covid (after 3 jabs, when I’m wearing a mask & keeping a decent distance from strangers, I’m not a concert/club/pub type of person at all) & STILL managing to pass it on to a random stranger who is CEV in the brief moment I pass them in Tesco or whatever is so tiny, I’m happy to be called ‘selfish’ for not testing twice a week. I have done what I feel is enough, and I’m happy with my decision.

Malteser71 · 10/12/2021 19:17

I’m with you, Toad

Marianne1234 · 10/12/2021 21:29

I’m with you too.

OP posts:
SivvyPlath · 10/12/2021 21:31

No.

I tested once, when I was worried about symptoms. But that's it.

chocolateisavegetable · 10/12/2021 21:32

Daily (work in a school)

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 10/12/2021 21:35

I tested for the first time today as I'm getting a cold and couldn't believe how fiddly it was and what a waste of plastic! Why do they give you a plastic bag to throw the bits away in? Totally unnecessary. And why would anyone waste their time reporting a negative test?

Volhhg · 10/12/2021 21:35

@WhenSepEnds

I'm honestly worried about the long term consequences of shoving things up your nose multiple times a week for years...
Yes I worry about this too. We have little tiny hairs in our nostrils that are there for good evolutionary reasons and also help us with infections. I wonder how much damage can be done with constant swabbing especially school children who are being asked to do these daily. I actually preferred the throat swabs
multivac · 10/12/2021 21:38

Oh give over with the 'worried about my child's nose hairs' bollocks. As if their fingers aren't digging around up there every time they get!

It was said earlier upthread. Some people are 'done caring about randoms they don't know'.

That's it. That's the status. That's where we are.

FabriqueBelgique · 10/12/2021 21:39

@WhenSepEnds

I'm honestly worried about the long term consequences of shoving things up your nose multiple times a week for years...
That’s a point!! My DP got cotton ears from cotton buds and had to have so much pumped out!
FabriqueBelgique · 10/12/2021 21:40

We are not testing. We all hate it. We’ll test when there’s reason to, of course.